The Winter Sekirei
by lostsoldierS636
Summary: 3 months after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, Bucky decides to look for answers on his history as the Winter Soldier from the past 70 years. During his search, he becomes apart of the game of a madman while in Japan. Now he fights for freedom of another species while he discovers more about his past life.
1. Chapter 1

3 months.

That's how long it's been since the fall of both S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA. And that's how long ago it was after he saved his...mission? Friend? Steve Rogers also known as Captain America. He went dark, not having any connections of any kind, trying to piece his memory back together. Without any idea of who he had been before, he had to start from the only source he had.

The Captain America history exhibit.

Yeah it was corny from begining to end, but what really got his attention was a monument. A monument dedicated to him. James "Bucky" Barnes. Born 1925, died 1945. It detailed 'his' life, a life he didn't remember. His supposed friendship with Steve Rogers, his acceptance into the military, his publized missions, and his "death". He didn't remember any of it, leaving him feeling like he had been reading the biography of someone else.

Except...he kept getting flashes. Brief moments when a vision would flash across his mind, that showed people, places, events he hadn't been to or seen. He didn't know if they were memories from his "previous" life or just other missions he had taken and forgotten about. But with nothing better to go on, he'd have to gather information himself.

That led to him traveling across the United States and several countries, searching for hints of what he had been before he'd become the Winter Solider. He'd been to abandoned buildings, warehouses, and safe houses that belonged to HYDRA. All he found were a few remaining files and papers that had slight detail on what he did. Biggest find of all, was a document detailing the assassination of the Howard Stark and President John F. Kennedy. Interesting, but nothing that pointed directly towards him. Aside from those files, he found some old coded communications between operatives of HYDRA. They spanned the globe, but later messages seemed to concentrate on the continent of Japan, which had a new company being founded and climbing at a previously unseen rate. If this were right, it looked like HYDRA had contacted them to find out what the company was really like.

Unfortunately, the messages didn't cover what happened, but it did mention the company name and the city it was in.

MBI, with its headquarters in the capital of Tokyo. If they had HYDRA's attention, then the organization would've posted an agent and safe house there. Another possibility of learning about his past. So with his destination in mind, the ex-HYDRA agent left for the city of Tokyo.

* * *

><p>It was with a jerk that he was startled awake. For a moment, Bucky wondered where he was. It took only took a quick glance around, seeing the two seats on his left and the many rows of seats before and behind him filled with people that the male began to realize where he was.<p>

That's right, he was on an airplane traveling that had been traveling from Washington, Moscow to Tokyo, Japan. The landing struts hitting the runway must have woken him up.

His hand consciously went to the covered cold steel of his cybernetic arm. While he could move it and use it, he couldn't feel anything but a cold stump.

A ding filled the air before the pleasant voice of the flight attendant began speaking. "We have now arrived in Tokyo. Please remain seated until the plane has safely docked. Thank you for flying Tokyo air, and have a great day."

Sighing, the male relaxed back into his seat and looked back out the window. Outside was a riot of activity as the airplane he was traveling on made it's inexorable path to the docking station that would connect with the door and allow the passengers to unload. The window was very clear, with not even a tint to it, but he could still see his reflection in the mirror. The sight of his familiar shaggy brown air and brown eyes with light bags around them.

Reaching into the pair of black jeans he was wearing, he pulled out a touch screen phone and turned it on. He'd made sure that no one could track it or the number so they could try and pin point his position. The first thing he did was check the time. It was early in the day, about an hour or so until one in the afternoon. He should have plenty of time to find an apartment or hotel before starting out his mission.

The moment soon arrived when passengers were finally allowed to begin offloading. The brown haired man grabbed the duffel bag under his chair and stood up to his full height. He was very tall, around six feet and looked around his early 20's.

While his right hand, began fiddling around the touch screen, opening up a music application he had downloaded the moment he had gotten it, his left hand set the duffel bag on the table and went into the jean jacket that he was wearing over an equally long sleeved black shirt. He pulled out a small set of earphones, the kind that went directly into the ear, placed one in each ear, then plugged it into the phone just as Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son began playing.

Hefting his duffel bag over his shoulder, Bucky began his own departure from the airplane. Once he stepped out of the extendable hallway that connected the plane to the building, he started scanning for security and ways to get around it so he could leave without being hindered. After checking to see no one around, he grabbed one part of the extendable hallway with his cybernetic arm and pulled on it until a small section of it was big enough to slip himself and his bag through. Once that was done, he looked one more time for any signs of personal coming towards or from the airplane before slipping through. The former soldier dropped to the ground and duck walked to a section of the plane.

Before the plane left from Washington and Moscow, he managed to slip a separate bag into a section of the plane. It had been hidden close to the landing gear where it would be out of sight. He opened the section and pulled out a roundish duffle bag that he slung onto his back before checking the components.

It contained a DWM Luger P-08 9mm Pistol; with live, rubber, and tranquilizer rounds. Also there was a patented S.H.I.E.L.D Night-Night gun with a few magazines for that. There was also a combat knife and finally the shield. Captain America's shield.

It was disc shaped with a five-pointed star design in its center, within blue, red, and white concentric circles. It was composed of a unique alloy of Vibranium, steel, and an unknown third component. Basically, it was virtually indestructible.

He didn't steal it, but after saving Steve's life he found it floating adrift and decided to take it as a memento/reminder of what he used to stand for. Of what he fought for.

Shaking off his thoughts and strapping on the duffle bag, Bucky looked around. He didn't feel like clearing customs, not to mention they'd detain him for having enough ammo to attack a small army. So that meant sneaking past security.

With that in mind, Bucky went to find a hole or blindspot in security.

* * *

><p>After finding a hole in the fence surrounding the air field and walking towards the nearest train station, Bucky brought a ticket using cash and boarded a bullet train to the capital of Japan. As the train raced across the land at over 260 mph, his eye caught a newspaper on the seat next to him. He picked it up and saw the headline:<p>

**_Major cooperation, buys out city. Soon to rename it Shinto Teito_**

Eyebrow raised, Bucky started reading the article.

_Since the company appeared out of nowhere 20 years ago, MBI has managed to become the top number one company in the world, rivaling Stark Industries. Their CEO, Minaka Hiroto, has become one of the richest men in the world, and has made remarkable progress in the field of medicine and technology, patenting a large number of inventions. Until recently, it looked like the company would come to spread across the globe._

_What has changed is that MBI has made a startling purchase of the capital of Japan, Tokyo, and is renaming it to Shinto Teito. How and why the company has done this has left many people scratching heads, as the company refused to comment. It is known that the city is to be put on lockdown and all foreign embassy representatives and political figures are being requested to leave until further notice._

Bucky stopped reading from there since the rest of the article seemed to go into the possible economical and political impacts of the city's closing.

On the one hand, this reminded him from back in WW2 when Germany took over all the neighboring countries. Only instead of buying them out, they invaded and subjected them to their will. It seemed like people had only changed their methods of getting something from obvious to subtle. It also made him question what kind of people let a corporation buy the capital of Japan and do whatever they wanted with it.

The answer: greedy, shortsighted, corrupt idiots who couldn't tell when something would come back to bite them in the ass.

Still, it mattered little to him, and it would matter little to HYDRA agents that may still be there. And even if there were none, there would still be safe houses that needed finding. With that in mind, Bucky started making plans to find a place to lay low while looking for his targets.

With that in mind, he spent the rest of the train ride checking for apartment listings.

Once the train came to halt, shouldered his duffle and strapped the bag containing his weapons onto his back. While walking down a flight of steps, he accidentally bumped into someone. Said person, which was a black haired kid around his late teens, nearly fell down if it wasn't for the former soldier's fast reflexes that caught him.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Bucky replied, straightening out the kid who went along his way, muttering something about a college test.

The Winter Soldier went along his way until...

"AH! Get out of the way please!"

Bucky looked up and had just enough time to see that the girl falling before him was a brunette that had extremely large breasts. She then smashed into the assassins stomach with enough force to send him crashing into the ground and creating a decently sized crater.

"Ugh... what the...hell...?" Bucky blinked as he saw a tight, toned and shapely rear clad in white panties. If this girl was some kind of angel, then she was the clumsiest angel he had ever met. Wow, even for the 2000's century that was dated. "You alright?"

"Ow... I should have known that building was way to high to jump off of..." The girl mumbled as she crawled off of him. Now that Bucky got a better look at her he saw that she was a well-endowed young woman with short, brown hair and a well developed body figure. It consisted of a short red skirt and upper clothes that resemble the traditional clothing worn by the miko. She was also wearing a pair of red gloves that looked like they were used for battle.

The girl turned around and the Winter Soldier got to see a face that looked way too cute and innocent. "Oh, you're the person who caught me, aren't you? Thank you very much," she said with a warm smile.

"Its fine." Now that he knew she was ok, Bucky was anxious to leave before he drew attention to himself. Before he could ask the young girl to remove herself from his person, his sixth sense kicked in.

"Get down!"

He pulled the girl close to him as he threw themselves over to the side just when a bolt of lightning struck their previous location. Looking up, his eyes wandered up the side of a building to see two beautiful women – twins from the looks of them – in leather bondage costumes.

He mentally face palmed himself.

The girl which he saved got up on her feet and looked into said direction with the two twins looking back.

"You can run all you want, but nothing will come of it," the one of the left said. She was wearing a dark purple leather suit.

"So just fight us and we'll get this over with quickly," the other one said. This one was wearing a red suit of the same make.

"I can't! At least, not right now!" the brunette that had run into him said, clenching her fists as she looked at the two with a mild glare. From the way she spoke to the pair, Bucky was able to glean that these two girls had been chasing the busty shrine maiden. He wasn't quite sure why, aside from the fact that theses twins apparently wanted to fight the brunette. Of course, that brought out a whole new line of questions. Why did these girls want to fight the one who had landed on him? Was there something going on in this town that he was unaware of and had just randomly stumbled across.

If so that would a):Really bite since it was only his first day here and b):Put his mission to a screeching halt.

"That's too bad, because we're not stopping until we defeat you." Electricity began to form on the two girls hands, light purple sparks that crackled as it shot off their hands in miniature bursts.

Thinking fast, Bucky noticed a man hole just a few feet to the side of him. He then rolled over to the side and picked it up with ease. Not saying a word, he hurled it like Steve's shield at the two twins. Said twins took noticed as they side stepped away, the lid just missing them as it imbedded itself into the building. Having them distracted, Bucky grabbed his things and the brunette's arm and started to run. The brunette in question was taken back by this for a moment, before she to started to sprint with him.

"Hey!" One of the twins hollered. Before either of them could persue the two, a cloud of smoke exploded from the imbedded man hole blocking their line of sight and irritating their throats so they coughed violently.

Bucky used any back alley or shortcut he could to get away from the two girls that had attacked. Once he got a few blocks away he'd have to find someplace crowded to blend into.

"Excuse me!" His thoughts screeched to a halt as he then remembered about the girl. "Not to sound rude, but you're kinda hurting my arm." Rounding another corner into an alley, he stopped and let go of her arm.

"Thank you." The girl then flexed her arm a bit before jabbing it into the air. After nodding in satisfaction, she put her arm to the side and bowed to the waist. "Thanks for getting me away from those two. They've been chasing me all morning."

"Why?" He asked shortly. He'd never been one to speak more then what was necessary.

"Well it's kinda difficult to explain." The brunette rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

Bucky snorted softly. "Ok then." He then picked up his bag, turned on heel and began to walk off.

"Hey, wait up!"

Bucky grumbled as the busty brunette ran up and started walking on his side.

"What do you want?"

"I want to repay you for helping me."

The long haired soldier shook his head. "Sorry, not interested."

"But you saved my life. I'd like to repay you for your kindness."

"And I'm saying you don't need to."

"But I-"

Bucky noticed the girl's face turned red and her breathing pick up before her eyes rolled up and her body went limp. Before she dropped to the ground, he caught her and checked her vitals. He sighed in relief as he found them normal, but now he was left with a predicament. Bucky could leave her here and possibly let her be discovered by those two women or taker her with him, and she becomes his responsibility. With a groan, he picked her up and carried her bridal style.

"And things were supposed to be simple."

Little did he know, things were about to become a lot less simpler.


	2. Chapter 2

Musubi woke up the next day. Yawning a little she looked around to see that she was in a small hotel room. She was laying in a futon, and there was another futon next to hers that was ruffled and looked like someone had just gotten out of bed. She didn't feel like she was in any danger, but she was curious to know where she was and how she had gotten there.

As she was continuing her observations of the room, noting that it was very bare and only had the most basics one would expect to find in a room – lamp, dresser, closet and even a TV – Bucky entered through a door on her left, wearing a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and a glove over his left hand. Seeing her up the long haired man said, "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"I did!" Musubi replied cheerfully. A confused look then crossed her face as she looked around. The room was unfamiliar to her, and she couldn't help but ask, "Um... where are we?"

"Just a hotel room I managed to secure for us for the night," Bucky said as he walked over to her and sat in seiza. He grimaced slightly as he used the very formal sitting position. It wasn't one he used often, especially since his ventures were in America and Europe. "I didn't want to spend hours searching for an apartment while you were unconscious."

"Thank you so much!" Musubi gave him a smile of such emotions that actually began to lean back in surprise. The girl he had rescued wore her heart on her sleeve it seemed. Not necessarily a bad thing, though definitely not a good thing. It was a miracle she had survived this long without having been preyed upon by people looking to take advantage of her. "You really saved me back there!"

Shaking his head, Bucky did his best to ignore the girls look and covered his uneasiness up with a calm demeanor. He hadn't me a girl quite as gung-ho as she seemed to be in, well, ever. She reminded him of fresh HYDRA agents that had just gotten accepted, sure they were hot stuff and arrogance pouring from every pore. Though she seemed less arrogant and more happy-go-lucky.

"Um, what's your name?"

His attention was redirected towards the brunette.

"You never really gave it so I'm wondering to know the name of my rescuer."

"Bucky. Bucky Barnes."

The girl gave him a bright smile. "Pleased to meet you Bucky! I am Number 88 Musubi."

The old soilder raised an eyebrow. "What's with the number?"

"I'm a Sekirei fist type!" Musubi pumped her fist in the air.

Now this got Bucky's attention. A Sekirei? From his knowledge that was Japanese for Wagtail, a type of bird native to the country. But why would this girl call herself a Sekirei? Before he could ask, there was a deep rumble that shook the floor and ran deep in his stomach. Musubi looked slightly sheepish as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Hungry?" Bucky asked while keeping his disbelief that a girl that small could give off a rumble that sounded like a dinosaur roaring.

"Yeah." Musubi said making a face that made her look like a kicked puppy.

"I made breakfast, it's on the table." If he hadn't been looking right at her, he would've sworn that she had just vanished, when she had actually just ran from the room at such high speed he couldn't see her move. It was a greater mystery how she did that without knocking anything over and disturbing anything else.

Putting those thoughts aside, he went to join her. An hour and several plates later, they had both eaten their fill, but Musubi had easily eaten enough food for a six man squad. And he had commanded some, so he knew what he was talking about.

"Aahh, that was good." Musubi sighed, leaning back and patting her stomach contently. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Bucky said, cleaning the dishes off the table and putting them in the sink. "So, those girls yesterday, who were they?"

"What girls?" Musubi asked, tilting her head.

"The twins that were shooting lighting like they were Thor." Bucky promoted, wondering how someone forgot people like that.

"Oh them! Yeah they weren't really nice."

"But who were they?"

"Sekirei, like me. Only they were lighting types, I think."

"Lightning types. How many types are there, and what are Sekirei in the first place?" Bucky's mind was going a mile a minute. If there were lightning types, then that meant that there were other types of Sekirei, whatever those were. If there were only a few types or Sekirei in general, then that wouldn't be as bad as, say, and army of them. But if there were people like this in the capital of Tokyo, it explained why HYDRA was intersted in this place. He didn't notice the girl across from his starting to become beat red until hearing Musubi mumbled, "Bucky..."

Bucky looked up and saw that the girls face was beat red and she was breathing much more heavily then she should be.

"Are you alright? You look like your burning up."

"I feel... I feel so hot," Musubi said, her breathing going heavy as she looked at him through half lidded eyes.

She was about to fall face forward onto the floor, but Bucky managed to grab her in time while holding her steady. He used his good hand to feel her head and felt that she was burning up with what seemed a fever.

And then, it happened.

He wasn't sure how it happened, it just happened. One moment he was checking her tempature, trying to figure out what was wrong, the next she was pushing forwards and kissing him.

All thoughts fled Bucky's mind when Musubi placed her mouth over his. For a moment, all the blond could do was take in the feel of her soft lips as they pressed against his, it felt like silk had been slipped over his mouth. Despite Bucky's surprise, his hesitation only lasted for an instant before instincts kicked in and he began kissing back. It had not been so long since he had been with a women that he didn't know what do in this kind of situation. He applied more pressure against Musubi's soft and warm lips. His hands moved from behind him and holding him up to her waist.

Musubi began glowing a light purple, forming around her in prism like rays of light. A symbol appeared on her back and began to project itself outwards in a physical manifestation of energy. The symbol was of a bird with a yin and yang circle under it and two tomoes on either side, making that four total. With the the yin and yang crest they formed a U with the tomoes under the bird.

The light soon began to fade, the wings disappeared, the symbol made from energy vanished, and all that was left were Bucky and Musubi, still kissing on the hotel floor. When they broke the kiss Musubi's and Bucky's eyes fluttered open and they stared at each other.

"What just happened?" asked Bucky, confused.

Musubi closed her eyes as she smiled at him in an expression that radiated sheer joy, the kind of which Bucky had never seen on another person before. It made his heart actually begin beating that much faster.

"You've just become my Ashikabi."

"You're...what?"

_"So glad you asked."_

The brown haired man snapped his head towards the television in the corner. Somehow it had turned on by itself. The man on the television had white messy hair, glasses, a white tux and a white high collared cape. Bucky immediately recognized the man as Minaka Hiroto, president of the ever growing MBI.

_"Greetings and congratulations! It's good to finally meet you Mr. Barnes. Or should I say, Winter Soldier?"_

He was about to question the man, but wouldn't have been able to anyways as Musubi saw him looking at the TV and walked over to peer at it from over his shoulder so she could see who he was talking too.

"Professor!?" She said in surprise.

_"Well hello number eighty-eight. How are you doing?"_

Musubi gave a brilliant smile. "I'm fine, Professor."

"I take it you two know each other?" said Bucky, baiting for information.

"Oh yes, the Professor was my professor before I began searching for you," Musubi informed him.

"I see," Bucky said with a frown. The thought of Musubi being looked over by this guy made him ill, but he didn't know why he cared so much. He hardly knew the girl. As for Minaka, even though they were talking through a television, he was getting a bad feeling from this guy. The man constantly holding a smug look also didn't help. "So was you congratulating me the only reason you called? Or was there another one?"

_"Of course there was another reason,"_ the man said. _"Now that you're an Ashikabi you have become part of a grand game. An epic competition and struggle between Sekirei who must battle in secret in order to stay with their Ashikabi. Do you understand this?"_

Bucky already prominent frown increased. "So you're telling me that I've become involved in some kind of competition, a tournament, I guess, that involve these Sekirei battling each other?" This sounded exactly like the kind of things he had long since tried to avoid.

_"That's right!"_ the man crowed, seeming to be quite pleased that someone had caught on so quickly. _"You really are quite intelligent, aren't you. Then again, for someone like you, you'd have to be I imagine."_

Bucky scowled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

_"Of course, of course," _the man placated. Considering he was still wearing his large, condescending grin, he didn't seem to really care one way or the other. _"I look forward to seeing what you do. Perhaps it will be you who brings about the New Age of the Gods."_

Age of the gods? What the hell? This guy was reminding him of Red Skull and HYDRA.

"So if this is a competition can I assume that there is a 'prize' at the end?" Truthfully, Bucky didn't really care. He wasn't interested in competing in any tournament, nor did he care for whatever prize might be at the end. Whatever prize was to be handed out didn't matter, he was just playing along at the moment to make the man think he was interested in what he had to say.

It was surprising how loose lipped people like Minaka tended to be.

_"Oh yes, there is a very fabulous prize if I do say so myself,"_ Minaka smiled indulgently, even though it was quite clear to Bucky that this was something he had been hoping to be asked. _"The Ashikabi and Sekirei who wins will get a most fabulous prize and shall be allowed to ascend to the higher skies above together and usher in a new Age of the Gods."_

Well that was a bust. It looked like this man was either craftier than he let on, or a delusional fool. Either way, it didn't look like he would be getting any information from Minaka any time soon.

_"Ah yes, I forgot to mention." _Bucky paused in his rumination to glance back down at the screen where Minaka was leaning forward._ "The Sekirei Plan is a highly confidential secret project. Should you attempt to inform anyone of it, then you will be dealt with most harshly. I look forward to seeing how you do in this grand game, Bucky Barnes."_

The screen went blank and Bucky found himself staring at it for several seconds as his mind slowly digested everything he had just heard. He had come to this city to find clues on his past, now he was stuck in a game run by a delusional CEO of a rapidly growing company that had taken over the capital and locked it down, making getting out impossible, or extremely difficult even for him.

Of course, him being stuck implied he didn't have a choice in this "game". And he did have a choice. All he had to do was not play.

And as if he had read his thoughts, the TV turned back on. _"Oh, and I forgot to mention. Participation in the Sekirei Plan, after winging a Sekirei, is mandatory."_

"Then clearly you don't know me as well as you think you do." Bucky said flatly. "I don't follow orders from you, and I'm not a pawn to be pushed around." He got up to unplug the TV so he could shut the guy up.

_"Not even for information on who you were?"_

Bucky stopped and stared at the man on the screen. "You don't have anything on who I was."

Minaka grinned, knowing he had started gaining traction. _"James Buchanan Barnes , was born in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1925. An orphan, you were the son of a soldier killed in training at U.S. Army Camp Lehigh in Virginia just before the United States' entry into World War II. While you were reported KIA, your body was never recovered. Soon after, the Winter Soilder appeared and started building a reputation."_ Minaka leaned back in his chair, folding his hands. _"I'll make a deal with you James...or do you prefer Bucky?...in any case, if you agree to participate in the Sekirei Plan, willingly...I'll help you find answers to your past."_

"You don't have any information I haven't already found myself."

_"Oh? My company is very large, very connected. And while I didn't associate with them, I was offered a partnership with a certain orginization. I declined, but when they fell, I managed to find some...very interesting files, on you, to be more specific. Including the people you were assigned to...how would you put it, knock off? Ice? Either way, you've been involved in some surprising situations. But, I'll keep this information to myself, in exchange for your participation in my game."_

"But professor, I thought Ashikabi's weren't allowed to interfere?"

_"I'm making yours an acception number 88."_

Bucky slowly clenched his hands, leather glove creaking as he did. This was clean and simple blackmail, and they both knew it. But the galling thing was he couldn't do anything about it. Minaka had information that could paint a bullseye on his back the size of Europe. While the lockdown would slow him down enough to make it possible to be caught. Either by HYDRA, S.H.I.E.L.D, or any other orginization, even bounty hunters for hire. And he'd never be able to get his hands on that information and be able to live without being exposed.

"Fine. I'll participate in this. In exchange, I want that information, all of it."

_"Agreed!"_ Minaka said cheerfully. _"But you'll have to win in order to get all of it. Otherwise, you will only get peices of it as the Game progresses."_

Bucky clenched his teeth but ground out, "Fine."

_"Then I welcome you to the Sekirei Plan, again, James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Solider."_

Bucky didn't like how smug and triumphant the CEO sounded, so he decided to silence him. He did so by putting his fist through the TV.

After a few seconds of what remained of the screen sparking, he pulled his prosthetic arm out of the broken television set. He brushed off what bits and pieces were left, until a soft gentle hand touched his cold metallic arm.

"I can feel it."

Bucky looked over his shoulder to see the brunette, now with look of worry on her face.

"What?"

"I can feel what you've been through. The violence, the loss, the anger." She then took his still flesh hand placed it on her chest. "But I can help."

The soldier scoffed. "How? How can you help?"

Musubi, looking him dead in the eye, and a gentle smile on her face said in a strong mature voice, "Because I am a Sekirei. A bird that teaches love. People are said to become stronger by loving and being loved. Once again the same as Sekirei. We are little birds who will one day spread our wings and show love to the world. That's what it means to be the Fate Sekirei."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that I will defend you no matter what, my Ashikabi. That whatever pain you're going through, it'll be shared with me so it can be eased."

Bucky looked at the girl for a few seconds. He didn't see any hint of lying or signs she was just saying this to make him feel better. She seemed to truely believe, with her entire being, that any pain he had could be erased. But something inside of his mind told him why he wouldn't-couldn't-have any of that pain erased.

"Then how do you get rid of this?"

Grabbing his left sleeve, he yanked it off to reveal his robotic prosthetic. Musubi's eyes widened for a moment before going back to their normal size.

"How can you get rid of seventy years of killing? The shed blood of the innocent? Not knowing who you are until your past comes back and stares at you right in the face?"

Those were the questions he'd been asking himself ever since his memories had started coming back. They were murky and out of focus, but some were clearer then others, and they all involved blood. Terrified faces, gunfire, then the blood that flowed from gunshot wounds. Then a painful shocking sensation before cold and darkness in closed upon him. Going in and out of consciousness, the pain still there and feeling number than ever. And after that-

**_SLAP_**

Bucky's face jerked to the right as a stinging sensation came upon his cheek. He looked back at the girl who had drawn back her hand, looking him with a stern yet calm look. She didn't look like she had a few minutes ago, clueless and always happy and upbeat and childish. Now she looked mature and controlled, like she had grown ten years in a instant.

"Blood doesn't matter," she said, still in a strong determined voice. "What matters is the person beneath the blood."

The Winter Soldier's eyes became wet and puffy. "I don't know who I am under the blood."

"Then let me help you wash it off."

Musubi lent forward and kissed Bucky. He wanted to pull back but something held him fast in place. However the kiss this time was more pure, more loving. The light wings appeard behind the busty brunette as the two continued on. After a few minutes, the two separated to catch their breaths. The brown eyes of the Ashikabi and his Sekirei gazed long and hard into one another's.

Bucky felt something stir in his mind besides ruthless drive and muted pain from his past. He wasn't sure what the feeling was, having been without a majority of them for seventy years, but it felt...nice. Better then what he had been feeling the past several months.

"Uh...Bucky?"

His attention was drawn from his inner thoughts and unto the girl in front of him. He noticed immediately that the maturity in her voice and expression was gone. Now replaced by the girls regular cheerful and wide eyed demeanor which was currently confused.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

Bucky narrowed his eyes slightly. Whatever had just happened wasn't normal. Musubi had completely changed personalities and now apparently didn't remember what she had just been doing.

'Multiple personality disorder maybe?' He thought. He didn't know how Sekirei differed from humans but based on what he'd just seen it was plausible.

"No. Just thinking too hard," he decided to put his ideas aside for the time being. He sighed and rubbed his brow before standing up. "I'm going out for some air."

"Oh, can I come with?" Musubi asked excitedly.

"Um...sure."

* * *

><p>A couple hours later, the two found themselves near a little park. Bucky thought maybe he could stop and sit down so he can think more on what had transpired just hours beforehand. Just as he spotted a bench, he noticed something, or someone, sitting on it. He got a closer look to see it was a girl. She had short, light brown hair, and a sleepy expression on her face. She was wearing nothing more then a button up shirt, a pair of panties and a doctors coat that was stained with blood. Beyond the blood stains, the most noticeable thing about her was that she had a crimson Sekirei mark on her forehead.<p>

"Musubi."

"Hm?" Musubi turned her head to see what Bucky was looking at and spotted the girl instantly.

"Why does she have that crest on her forehead?"

"But she…she…" Musubi said, clutching her chest about to cry.

"She's what?"

"A scrapped number, they…they can't be winged," she said, tears rolling down her face.

"I see." Bucky said, closing his eyes and clenching his fist. He had seen that look on people in war zones and during his tours. People who had lost everything and had nothing left to give their life meaning. He then walked over to the Sekirei and bent down a little to get to eye level with her. "What's your name."

"Akitsu, it's Akitsu," she said emotionlessly.

He extended his hand and said, "Well Akitsu, do you want come with us? I can give you someplace warm to stay. At least for a few days."

A smile broke Akitsu's sullen features when a pompous voice spoke up. "Sorry, but she's going to be part of my collection, not yours."

Bucky turned and glared, seeing a short, blonde teenager in a fancy white suit with two people beside him.

One was a man with short, messy, silver haired, man with brown eyes. He wore a black, open front, long-sleeved shirt with an 'x' pattern across his midsection. He wore black combat gloves and long black pants, topped with a long orange scarf.

The other was a woman with long brown hair and matching eyes, a red bow around her neck and in her hair, she wore a white and black dress with long matching boots and short gloves. Her most notable feature was the long red scythe she had, which she held like a baby.

Just by posture alone he could tell they were fighters. Relaxed stances that were ready to be in a offensive or defensive position at the blink of an eye, eyes that were looking at him with a slight intensity as they sized him up and the general aura that spoke of experience in combat coming from the man. The woman seemed less experienced and more prone to make a descision in the heat of the moment or on emotions instead of what logic dictated.

"Now would you be so kind to move so that I may add her to my collection."

Bucky narrowed his eyes. The kid, on the other hand, just oozed the self-entitlement and rich spoiled brat vibe that people had when they had grown up with more money then they knew what to do with. And despite everything, it seemed like the man and woman were working for him, maybe they had been paid? No, that didn't seem right.

"Do us all a favor brat. Turn around and go back to your gold plated baby crib." He insulted him, trying to get a rise out of him and see what the others reactions were.

The kids eyes widened. Clearly he was used to getting his way and being told no came as a shock to him.

"Don't you dare insult Mikogami you stupid brute!" The woman said vehemently. Based on the amount of venom in that response, the woman took that insult more personally than the man. So he was right in his assumption that she was more emotion driven then the man. Maybe she also liked the kid for someone reason based on how angry she was.

'Sekirei?' He questioned mentally while saying outloud, "Says the lady with the scythe that looks like a Christmas themed hooker."

That got her angry. He saw her grinding her teeth as she shifted her such to a more secure grip. "Let's see how well you still talk missing a limb."

The girl swung her scythe towards Bucky. But before Musubi could intervine, the Winter Soldier caught the blade and just looked at her. She on the other hand was gaping at how a human could catch that without getting his hand sliced off. That answer came when he tore off the sleeve of his left arm to reveal his prosthetic limb. All eyes went towards it, even Akitsu whose eyes went slightly wider than before.

The girl brought her attention back to Bucky, who looked at her with cold hardened eyes.

"Already lost one."

In an instant, the girl found herself on the ground as Bucky took her weapon, examined it for a moment, and then procceded to break it in half. He then tossed the remains of it towards her. Looking up at the brat and the man at his side, as said brat shouted, "Mutsu! Kill this incompetent fool!"

Bucky's eyes shot towards the swordsmans as both sets gazed at each other. Mutsu had his sword half drawn before the twos eyes meet. After a few moments, he nodded at Bucky and sheathed it.

"Mutsu?! What are you doing?!"

The swordsman looked at his master. "We'll discuss it later. Yomi, let's go home."

And with that, Mutsu turned on heel and started walking away. Yomi girl didn't say anything. She got up, grabbed whatever was left of her scythe and followed his example.

"Mutsu, Yomi! Get back here!" The brat turned to towards Bucky. "This isn't the end of it. I will get her and I'll kill you."

Bucky just crossed his arms. "Then make sure to bring your own body bag."

Groaning in frustration, the young man turned around and stormed away following his two companions.

After they were out of sight, Bucky breathed a small sigh. 'Looks like I just met another player.' He thought. Making a mental note to look him up later, he turned to see Musubi looking at him in both shock and awe.

"Uh what-?"

He never got a chance to say whatever he was about to say, as the burnette glommed up him making him lean forward as she hugged him tightly.

"Bucky that was amazing! I've never thought I'd see something like that, but now that I have, it's so great to see that I have an Ashikabi who'll stand up to anybody!"

After managing to pry the excitable girl off him, he then turned his attention towards the "scrapped" Sekirei that was sitting on the bench.

"I have no home...I am... broken... I'm... a failure..."

Bucky knew how she felt. After finding out who he was, and getting bits of his life back, he knew that HYDRA just used him as a tool. Never allowing him to become emotional, to become...human again.

Shaking this thought off, he cupped the woman's face and lifted it so she was forced to make eye contact. "You are not a failure." He said, watching as she blinked at his proclamation. "I don't know what fool told you that, but you are most definitely no failure."

"But I can't be winged. A failure like me will never be able to find an Ashikabi. I'm useless... a discarded tool..."

"Just because you can't be winged doesn't mean you don't have worth," Bucky said adamantly. "A persons worth is not determined by something so menial. You have something that is special only to you, something no one else has but you, something that makes you unique. That is what makes you special, and is what gives you worth."

"But I -"

"Come with us," He said, surprising the woman whose opened mouth quickly snapped closed. Honestly he was surprised what was coming out of his mouth. "Come with us and I'll prove that you are worth something."

The woman looked at him for several seconds before speaking. "Ok..."

He took her hand in his organic one and pulled her off the bench gently. He grabbed his ripped sleeve and wiggled his metal arm into it, having no desire to let people see it instead of a ripped coat sleeve. Then they left the park, Akitsu having a death grip on his hand.


End file.
